


Not Countless

by LarielRomeniel



Series: Unboxing Day [5]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Leonard Snart Lives, M/M, Memorials, Rip Hunter Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 18:05:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16123889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LarielRomeniel/pseuds/LarielRomeniel
Summary: Six months after the events of "Coming Home To You," Earth-X rebuilds and remembers. Canon divergent post Legends 3x09.





	Not Countless

**Author's Note:**

> I've wondered for a long time what Leonard and Stein might have said to each other in the MedBay after the first escape from the Vanishing Point in 1x15. Those musings, combined with Leo's advice to Barry Allen about the importance of mourning, grew into this story.
> 
> Many thanks, as always, to Jael for the beta!

_“Do you know how many rebels we lost, Barry, trying to defeat those Nazi bastards?”_

_“Countless, I’m sure.”_

_“Not countless. Counted!”_

 

\--"The Flash” Episode 4x19 “Fury Rogue”

 

* * *

They had barely taken three steps out of the breach when Leonard was nearly knocked off his feet by forty pounds of excited preschooler. _“Mr. Lenny!_ I missed you!” Talia squealed.

Leonard let out an _oof_ , then swept the little girl up into his arms. “Missed you, too, Squirt!” he said, while shooting the others a look that dared them to say anything. “So, where are your dads?”

“Leo and Ray are with the honor guard, so I’m keeping an eye on the munchkin,” answered the other member of the Earth-X welcoming committee. Nate Heywood surveyed the Earth-1 arrivals with a smile that faltered when he didn’t find the one face Sara was sure he’d been hoping to see.

“I wanted to tell you in person, Nate. Amaya went home again after we beat Mallus,” she said gently. “But before she left, she told us to tell you again that she was very proud of you. And so are we.”

Nate nodded, glancing down for a moment, then looking back up with a grin. He pulled her in for a hug. “I’ve missed you guys!” he said, releasing her to bump fists with Zari and Mick, before sharing a “bro hug” with Ray. He gave Leonard a respectful nod before turning to the others who’d come through the breach with them. “Mrs. Stein. Lily. Thank you for coming.” He reached out and tickled little Ronnie under the chin, then clapped Jax on the shoulder. “Good to see you again, man.”

“Right back at you,” Jax replied.

“Thank you for doing this,” Clarissa Stein said with a sorrow-laced smile.

“It’s an honor, ma’am,” Nate said. He then turned his gaze to the pair in navy blue uniforms. “Cap-- Director Hunter. Agent Sharpe. Welcome to Earth-X. General Schott is also with the honor guard, but asked me to welcome you and convey his thanks to you and the Time Bureau for everything you’ve done to help us here.”

“It is our pleasure, Dr. Heywood,” Rip Hunter answered, shaking the historian’s hand. “We might not be able to do anything about this Earth’s past, but we can at least help to make sure its future is a brighter one.”

“You’re already doing that. Just take a look around!” Nate answered, motioning for the group to follow him across the street to this Earth’s version of Nelson Plaza - a large, grassy space, with a speaker’s platform on one side. Uniformed Resistance soldiers stood in a line behind the platform, while a large crowd of civilians were gathering before it. The other side of the plaza was blocked off with braided ropes of red, white and blue, with tall metal stakes planted in the grass beyond the ropes.

Leonard set Talia back on her feet and let her scamper just ahead of them as they followed Nate. All around the square, they could see signs of hard work where the victors of the Resistance had been busy restoring their damaged city.

“The replicators have virtually eliminated hunger and want. It’s like a complete global renewal. People have been able to move past simply surviving day to day,” Nate continued, waving a hand at the crowd as he led them to a set of seats just before the platform. “It’s been incredible, the way people are banding together to rebuild their world.”

“Speaking of building things--” Ray said.

“I thought we were here for a memorial dedication,” Zari finished. “Where’s the memorial?”

“It’s on its way,” Nate answered, glancing at his watch while his former teammates blinked in surprise. “We should be able to see the caravan… about… now.”

They followed his gesture toward the distance. Squinting, Sara could see something bright moving across the deep blue sky, shining like the sun… but the sun was behind her. After a moment, she could also see two dark forms flanking the bright one, and could hear the rumble of engines approaching. With an excited laugh, Talia climbed onto one of the seats and waved. “Daddy!”

“Ten- _shut!_ ”

The uniformed soldiers… and many in the civilian audience... snapped to attention as the caravan approached. The Ray, Black Condor and Red Tornado flew above it. On the ground, a trio of motorcycles led a semi truck. Sara recognized Leo’s parka and silver visor and Phantom Lady’s green cloak. Between them rode General Schott, in a full dress uniform. Behind them, more motorcycles flanked the semi, which was hauling a flatbed trailer.

Each vehicle flew one American flag and another with a central field of crimson, bordered by vertical stripes of blue, green and yellow. Ava frowned and furrowed her brow, observing, “Your American flag looks… wrong.”

Trust the detail-oriented Time Bureau agent to catch that. Nate answered, “This Earth’s Old Glory only has 48 stars. Just like ours at the start of World War II.”

“Where history turned a different way for this Earth,” Rip mused, while the three lead motorcycles and the aerial escort stopped on the grass behind the speaker’s platform. “And the other flag, Dr. Heywood?”

But Clarissa was the one who answered. “That’s the design of our World War II service ribbon. My father had one.”

Nate nodded. “We’ve adopted it as the Resistance Remembrance flag.”

As the semi rolled to a halt, Sara could see its cargo: a set of metal crates. The uniformed soldiers began offloading the crates, carrying them to the rope line.

“So you’re borrowing pieces of Earth-1 history?” Ray asked.

“Just the best ones,” Nate answered. “You’ll see.”

The murmuring crowd fell silent as General Schott and the honor guard of Freedom Fighters mounted the steps to the speaker’s platform. Leo pulled his visor down and gave the Legends a barely perceptible nod before taking his place alongside his husband. Ray surreptitiously waggled his fingers at their daughter before straightening to attention.

“Soldiers of the Resistance, residents of Star City, honored guests,” Schott intoned. “Six months ago, with the aid of our allies from Earth-1 and from Nanda Parbat, we overcame the last of the Nazi regime. The flags of freedom now fly over all of this nation, and indeed over all of the world! Today, freedom is on the offensive. Democracy is on the march, and unshackled peoples are tasting the full sweetness of liberty, the relief from fear.”

Sara noticed Nate mouthing the words along with Schott. She leaned in to him. “So, who’d you steal from this time?”  
  
Nate smirked. “A little Truman, a little MacArthur, a bit of George C. Marshall and just a smidge of King George VI...”

“Any four-letter words?” Leonard murmured, getting a chuckle from the historian.

“What’s a four-letter word, Uncle Nate?” Talia piped up, just loudly enough for Schott to pause and raise an eyebrow. Next to him, Ray visibly restrained a chuckle while Leo rolled his eyes and shook his head. Laughter rippled through the crowd.

Nate turned pink and said, “Love is a four-letter word, sweetheart. Now, shhhh!”

Schott smiled slightly before glancing back down at his podium to find his place. “Since our great victory, we have worked to bind up the wounds of a suffering world--to build an abiding peace, a peace rooted in justice and in law. We can build such a peace only by work-- hard, painstaking work. On this day, we recognize our allies who are helping us in this work. Director Rip Hunter and Agent Ava Sharpe of the Earth-1 Time Bureau, will you please join me?”

Looking down the line of seats, Sara could see Ava start a little in surprise before she followed Rip onto the platform. Since toning down her initial bluster (or “bitchiness,” depending on which of the Legends you asked), the agent seemed to be a little less cocksure. Perhaps because Sara’s team had blown apart her notions of how to get things done through their… unorthodox... disposal of Mallus.

Perhaps also because they’d saved Rip’s life during that disposal.

And perhaps in part because of the very pointed dressing-down Leonard had given the Time Bureau upon his return to Earth-1. Sara might not have Leonard’s eidetic memory, but she would forever remember - and treasure - the dumbfounded expressions on those once-smug agents’ faces as he told them off with a diatribe that they hadn’t expected to hear from an “uneducated” thief.

And he hadn’t even needed any four-letter words.

Perhaps it was petty for Sara to have enjoyed that so much, but nothing in the rules of time travel said she couldn’t be petty on occasion.

(Not that the Legends were much for rules anyway.)

(And not that the Bureau hadn’t deserved every word of that dressing-down.)

(Rip included.)

No matter the reason, Ava was treading more carefully these days, spending time observing situations before making judgments. She’d even apologized for the things she’d done during their first few encounters, an apology Sara had been willing to accept. It made her life easier if she didn’t have to worry about getting lectured (at best) or getting her ship taken away again (at worst) if her team set a single toe out of line.

Of course, Sara had to admit the Legends tended to put more than just a toe out of line; more like the whole foot and leg, up to the hip. Which of course irritated Ava and nearly the entire Time Bureau (except for Rip, who knew them only too well and was often willing to aid and abet) - but the agency still accepted the Legends as its own “Black Sheep Squadron.”

Sara blinked as her favorite black sheep nudged her. Leonard gave her an inquisitive look, having noticed her wandering attention. She nudged him back, wordlessly letting him know she was fine, and focused again on the platform where Rip and Ava were now standing.

Schott approached them with a small, colorful bundle he’d taken from his podium. “Director Hunter. Agent Sharpe. Six months ago, even as our forces were working to drive out the last of the Nazi regime, we faced another, more insidious problem: hunger and need. Those threatened our very fragile freedom. As guardians of time on Earth-1, you both know all too well that people in need are often only too willing to give up their freedom in exchange for food and shelter. The remedy lies in breaking the vicious circle and restoring people’s confidence in their future. With the gift of the replicators, the Time Bureau has broken that cycle on this Earth, freeing us from the misery of want and the struggle to survive, allowing us to instead focus on rebuilding a world of beauty and peace.”

He extended the bundle to Rip. “This Remembrance flag is a small token of recognition for your great contribution. Please accept it from a grateful planet, and display it as a reminder of what you accomplished here - and as a sign that sometimes, history just needs a nudge in the right direction.”

Rip smirked just a little, and Ava looked uncomfortable. Sara leaned toward Nate and murmured, “Was that a dig at Ava because she didn’t want to send replicators over here?”

“Mayyyybe,” Nate admitted in an equally low tone while Rip accepted the flag and exchanged a salute with Schott.

“You didn’t have to,” Leonard said. “She’s gotten the stick out of-- _ow!_ Sara!”

Sara straightened her elbow again and indicated Talia, who fortunately was too busy watching her dads. “Let’s not give Leo and Ray something _else_ to explain, okay?”

Schott returned to the podium while Rip and Ava made their way back to their seats. At the same time, the honor guard of Freedom Fighters marched in formation back to the truck, which was now down to one crate draped with a Remembrance flag. As Schott resumed speaking, they removed the flag and began to fold it precisely.

“Even as we celebrate all we have won,” Schott said, “our rejoicing is sobered and subdued by a supreme consciousness of the terrible price we have paid to rid the world of the Führer and his evil band. Let us not forget the sorrow and the heartache which abide in the homes of so many of our neighbors, whose most priceless possession has been rendered as a sacrifice to redeem our liberty. Neighbors here - and those on another world. Will the family of Professor Martin Stein please join me?”

Clarissa and Lily got to their feet, Lily carrying little Ronnie. They took a step toward the platform, then Clarissa turned back and extended a hand. “Jefferson? You are family too.”

His eyes brimming, Jax nodded and rose to join them. As they went up the steps, Schott continued, “Martin Stein did not come to this world to fight. But when he saw another world ruled by the evil that had so nearly destroyed his own, he did fight. He was mortally wounded while helping his team return to their own world, where they eliminated the Dark Arrow and General Zor-El. Without his sacrifice, none of us would stand here today.”

The flag-folding was nearly complete. “On his own world, his identity as Firestorm was a secret, and he could not be openly lauded as a hero,” Schott said. “On this world, we have no such limitation, and today we honor the memory of Martin Stein.”

The colors of remembrance were now folded into a neat triangle, which Leo then formally presented to Clarissa. “Mrs. Stein. On behalf of a grateful planet, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for Martin’s honorable and faithful service.”

Clarissa took the flag with trembling hands. Leo gave the family a slow salute, prompting Jax to straighten just a little and nod in return.

“Just as Professor Stein will live on in your hearts, his name will live on here, on this Earth, along with the names of all those we lost in the Resistance. Those names are etched in our memories, and on this traveling memorial,” Schott said, extending a hand toward the crates now lined up on the grassy area that was no longer roped off. The soldiers began to open those crates.

“The fight against the Nazis… and the losses... extended to every corner of this nation. Many of those who died fell far from their homes and loved ones, so we chose a moving monument to bring the memories of the fallen back home again. We chose a monument that everyone can help build to remember our past, even as we are building our future. I now invite you all to help us raise this memorial, panel by panel, name by name. Our veterans will help you find the panels with the names of your loved ones.”

Schott leveled his gaze at Clarissa once more. “The name of Martin Stein is included in this memorial. He is counted along with 18,322 fighters who fell for freedom.”

A look of deep sorrow crossed Leo’s face while Schott paused to let them digest that number. Then the general said, “Red Tornado, call the roll.”

The android began reciting a list of names. _“Roy Lincoln. Christopher Smith. Alan Scott. Andy Franklin…”_

As Red Tornado spoke, the soldiers began lifting black panels out of the crates. Members of the crowd surged forward to help.

_“Beth Chapel. Lee Walter Travis. Wesley Dodd. William Vickers.”_

“Pretty, was this your idea?” Mick’s voice was… almost choked.

Nate nodded. “Told you I was taking the best from our Earth.”

Sara shook her head. “I don’t...”

“It’s a wall of names, like the one for ’Nam,” Mick said. “The traveling one came to Central when I was a kid. My dad took me there. Said he needed to say goodbye to some fellas--”

“I was thinking of your dad when I suggested this,” Nate said.

“But he didn’t say goodbye to anybody. He just stared at a buncha names for a while. Then he went home, hit the bottle, and... ” Mick paused, while most of his teammates and the professor’s family stared at him with varying expressions of sadness and shock.

Not Leonard, though. And to Sara’s surprise, not Nate, either. Mick grunted. “Doesn’t matter. I didn’t understand it then, but…”

He looked out at the crowd, young and old helping to lift the black panels out of the crates. They carried them over to the line of stakes, and Sara realized the metal rods were a framework for what was becoming a shining black wall etched with names.

Red Tornado continued to recite the list of the fallen. _“Michael Taylor. Sandra Knight. Pieter Anton Cross. Todd Rice. Emily Briggs.”_

As the panels went up, people crowded before them, some reaching out to touch the names, some kneeling and weeping. Watching them, Mick sighed. “But I think I do now.”

* * *

 

_“James Corrigan. Linda Park. Albert Elwood. Tatsu Yamashiro. Dorian Chase.”_

As they waited for Martin’s panel to be unpacked, Leonard watched his counterpart help install several others. Leo saluted each of them before moving on to help with another, honoring those who had died under his command.

Then came a panel he didn’t salute. Instead, once it was in place he laid a hand against it, his head bowed for long minutes while his husband put a comforting arm around his shoulders and their daughter wrapped her arms around his legs.

Leonard was pretty sure he knew whose name was on that panel. He glanced over to where Mick was standing with Jax and Zari, the three of them listening to Nate. Feeling Leonard’s gaze, Mick met his eyes, then looked over to the tableau of the Snart-Terrill family. He watched them for a moment, then gave Leonard a single, brief nod.

A slight sniffle interrupted Leonard’s reverie. Clarissa Stein and her daughter were standing near him and Sara, the older woman clutching the folded flag to her heart.

Leonard drew in a deep breath, thinking of the promise he’d made to Martin Stein a long time ago. He’d come a long, long way since the day Leo had lectured him about feelings, but dealing with them was still difficult. Keeping that promise would mean dealing with Clarissa’s feelings, and Lily’s.

And, he realized, his own. But he owed it to the professor to get past his own issues and do what he’d said he would do.

He let out a long sigh and touched Sara’s arm. When she looked at him curiously, he tilted his head toward the Steins. She raised her eyebrows, but followed him.

“Mrs. Stein?”

Clarissa startled just slightly and wiped at her eyes. “Mr. Snart… please, call me Clarissa.”

“Only if you’ll call me Leonard,” he answered, getting a slight smile and nod from her. “Clarissa, I need to tell you something about the professor… about Martin. I made him a promise seven months ago… well, more than two years ago for all of you… when he didn’t think he was going to make it home from our first mission.” He gave her a slight, wry smile. “As it turned out, he was the one who made it home first, and he may have told you all of it himself, but…”

“But you made him a promise. You know, Martin once told me one of the most surprising things he’d learned during that first mission was that a thief could have a sterling sense of honor,” Clarissa said, touching his arm lightly. “Tell me.”

Leonard swallowed and nodded, letting the memory rise up.

* * *

 

_“Get Professor Stein to the MedBay!” Rip ordered as the hatch locked shut. He and Raymond started running toward the bridge._

_Mick started toward the professor, but Leonard waved him off. “I got this! Get to the bridge! Help get us outta here!”_

_“Mr. Snart…” Stein’s voice was shakier than Leonard liked. The rush out of the Vanishing Point’s cell block had taken a lot out of the professor’s already-weakened system, and his hands were trembling as he reached for a railing to steady himself. He took a couple of faltering steps and then paused, shuddering from the effort._

_At this rate, they’d never get there before the professor melted down. Leonard shoved aside his usual distaste for human contact and moved close to support the old man, draping one of Stein’s arms over his shoulders and putting his own arm across the other man’s back. “Come on, professor. Let’s get you into one of those MedBay chairs and see what Gideon can do for you.”_

_They were making faster progress now. “Unless Gideon can create a new genetic match for me, I’m afraid there isn’t much hope,” Stein replied. “It was the risk I took when I sent Jefferson back to 2016.”_

_“Well, we’re going to get you back there too,” Leonard said. They’d finally reached the MedBay, and he helped Stein to one of the chairs._

_“If we don’t, I promise you that I will not... blow up while I’m still on board, Mr. Snart. I will… step out of the airlock first.”_

_Leonard froze, both at that quiet declaration… and at the painful thump it prompted in his chest. For all his arrogance and pomposity, Martin Stein was now a part of his crew… with all that being part of his crew entailed. That startling shift in perception might have been why he was just a tad rougher than he should have been in hooking the IV bracelet to the professor’s wrist, his reply a harsh snarl. “It’s not gonna come to that!”_

_Stein grabbed his arm. “Mr. Snart… Leonard. For all our differences, you and I are both realists, and the reality is that I may not survive this mission.”_

_Leonard shook his head, but his response was softer than before. “Reality changed for both of us when a certain Scarlet Speedster ran into our lives, Professor.”_

_“That may be so, but nevertheless, I… I would like you to give a message to my wife, Clarissa.” The professor shifted his grip a little, down to Leonard’s wrist. “Please.”_

_Leonard glanced down to where the other man’s fingers were pressing lightly into his skin, then looked back up into Stein’s pleading eyes. He sighed. “All right, professor. What… what do you want me to tell her?”_

_Stein relaxed a little, closing his eyes before beginning. “Clarissa. For 28 years, you have been my inspiration and my guiding light. You have helped me soar higher than I ever might have done on my own, while still bringing me back to earth when I needed it. Everything I have, everything I am, I owe to you. But for all that you have given me, I fear that I have given you too little in return. And I cannot even claim that it was always because of the calling of science in service to humanity.”_

_Stein’s tone became bitter. “Too often, it was because of the calling of… of my own ego. Too often, I put my own desires before your needs, to the point that I left on this… adventure… without telling you goodbye. Without telling you… just how much I love you._

_“I have always been searching for answers. And it’s only now that I realize… I never had to gaze at the stars or travel through time to find them. All the answers I could ever want… all the answers that will ever matter… are right there in your eyes._

_“I love you, Clarissa, and I will always be with you… even when you cannot see me any more.”_

* * *

 

Clarissa hugged her flag more tightly, leaning against her daughter as they both wept. After a moment, she looked up at Leonard again, drawing in a shuddering breath.

“Thank you, Leonard,” she said. “He was too hard on himself, but… that message means everything.”

Nate joined their group. “Martin’s panel is coming up now,” he told them.

He led Clarissa and Lily to where Rip, Jax, Raymond and Mick were carefully lifting another shining black plate from its crate, Zari using her power to lend them a hand. Leonard started to follow, but paused when Sara laid a hand on his arm.

“I was right before. You do have a sentimental side,” she said. But there was no teasing in her tone.

“Just one less thing to keep me up at night,” he answered. But he was thinking of what else the professor had told him.

* * *

 

_“Will you remember all of that, Mr. Snart?” The professor was still holding on to his wrist, squeezing it for emphasis._

_“I remember everything, professor. But I still say you’re gonna tell her all that yourself when we get out of here.”_ __  
_  
_ _The old man let out a sigh. “I will hope for that. But if not… at least I’m not leaving things unsaid. ‘_ Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.’”

_“Dostoevsky.” Leonard smirked at Stein’s expression. “There was a copy of ‘Bartlett’s Quotations’ in the Iron Heights library.”_

_“You continue to surprise me, Mr. Snart. But I hope you understand the spirit of the quotation,” Stein said. His hand moved to grip Leonard’s. “I think you may have some things left unsaid that should be said now to… a certain person, because we never know when it might be too late.”_

_Now Stein was the one smirking at the other man’s surprise. “You are not the only one on this ship who pays attention, Leonard.”_

* * *

 

“Leonard?” Sara squeezed his arm gently. She knew that sharing feelings was still sometimes too much for him, prompting him to withdraw into himself for protection.

He blinked and gave her a slight smile. “Just… remembering. Never thought I’d miss the professor so much.” He chuckled. “Remember what he said on the roof, that first night?”

Sara smiled, remembering. “Didn’t he call you ignorant?”

Leonard nodded. “And… about some things… he was right. I understand a lot more now.” He slipped his hand into hers, and she knew he wasn’t turning inward again. “C’mon. We should help.”

They joined the other Legends in grasping the edges of the panel bearing the names of Martin Stein and dozens of other lost heroes - some with superpowers, many without. Together they carried it to its spot in the wall, Clarissa and Lily walking behind with Ronnie toddling between them.

It only took a moment to slot the panel into place. Nate pointed out the row where Stein’s name was etched into the black metal, about two thirds of the way down the panel. Sorrow washed over Sara as Clarissa approached the wall, knelt and laid a hand on her husband’s name.

“Oh, my love. I miss you so much,” she whispered.

Lily went down on one knee beside her. “Dad, I hope you are still with us just like you said. I think… I think maybe you are, because sometimes… sometimes, in the lab, I would swear I can feel you there with me. And sometimes I think I can hear you singing to Ronnie.”

She guided her son close to the wall, then took his tiny hand and placed it against Martin’s name. “That’s Grandpa, Ronnie,” she said softly.

The little boy ran his fingers over the letters. “Grandpa?” He looked uncertainly at Clarissa, who nodded to him.

“Yes, sweetheart. Grandpa.”

Ronnie looked back at the name. “I love you, Grandpa,” he said. Then he leaned forward to kiss the engraving.

Something inside Sara shattered at the sight. _“The steady hand and beating heart of this team,”_ Martin had once called her. Now that hand trembled, and that heart broke.

 _“I’ll cry at the funeral,”_ she’d told Ollie. But she hadn’t, then.

She did now. Leonard folded his arms around her and let her weep.

* * *

 

 _“_ _Jack Ryder._ _Jennifer-Lynn Hayden. Darrell Dane. Brion Markov. Terra Markov.”_

Night had fallen, and Red Tornado was still calling the roll.  People were still coming and going, walking alongside the memorial. Some stopped to lay flowers alongside a panel, others to make a rubbing of a name.

Luminarias now lined the wall. They cast a soft light on the thousands of names, and on the small groups sitting on the grass in front of the memorial - including the group in front of Stein’s panel.

Leo, Ray and Talia had joined them earlier, the men each holding two bottles of Scotch. “The very last of Queen’s stash,” Leo said, winking at Leonard as he opened one.

Clarissa surprised them all by taking the bottle and saluting the wall with it before lifting it to her lips for a drink. She smiled at the raised eyebrows. “What? I went to college.”

They’d settled onto the grass, letting Ronnie and Talia play together while the adults passed the Scotch around and shared stories about the professor. Many were tales Leonard hadn’t heard before, from the time he’d gone missing between worlds. He smirked at Raymond’s account of their zombie adventure, and didn’t resist laughing with the others at Jax’s reenactment of Stein’s impromptu concert in NASA’s Mission Control.

And he let out a heavy sigh when Mick told them how Stein tried to help him with his hallucinations.

Eventually, the bottles and words ran dry. The children were now curled up together in sleep on top of Leo’s parka. Clarissa sighed. “This has been wonderful, but I think it’s time to go home,” she said.

Leonard helped Clarissa to her feet while the others also rose. Lily and Ray gathered up their children, who were both so tired neither woke.

“We have to get these two together again,” Lily said.

Ray chuckled. “An interdimensional play date? Sounds like fun!”

“And we can also visit your folks,” Leo told his husband.

“So you get along with the in-laws?” Sara asked.

Leo grinned. “His mother loves me!”

“I think she likes him better than me!” Ray added teasingly. He shifted Talia to hold her more comfortably. “But seriously… don’t be strangers, okay?”

Sara nodded. Then, one by one, the Earth-1 visitors touched the panel one last time - even Ava, who said softly, “I wish I’d taken the time to know you better.”

Mick was the last to run his fingers across the engraving. “Professor, I always told you that you were a special kind of crazy, and I really did like you for it,” he said. “I’m never gonna forget that day in Mission Control.”

He took a step back. Then in a rough voice, he sang, “Daylight come, and me wanna go home.”

No one laughed this time. Silently, they looked one more time at the flickering lights playing across the memorial. Then they turned to go home.

**Author's Note:**

> Earth-X's memorial is based on the Moving Wall replicas of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. Some years ago, I covered the arrival of one replica, and the images of friends and families working together to put together the portable monument have stuck with me.
> 
> There may still be more to come in this continuity.


End file.
